Rotating gas turbine engine components such as compressor blades, turbine blades, and knife seal rings spin at high speeds. Many of these rotating components are mounted in close proximity to static components such that the components may come into contact during rotation. Abradable coatings may be used at the interface of these rotating and static components within gas turbine engines to improve engine life and efficiency.
The coatings may be used to reduce wear to rotating and static components when they make contact with one another while allowing for close tolerance to be maintained between the rotating and static components. Abradable coatings sometimes consist of materials and microstructures that contain a matrix material and a fugitive phase applied using a thermal spray process. The abradable materials used for coating a component in a gas turbine engine may vary based on the location and the material of the component.